Spiritual Warfare and Victory — 2 Corinthians 2:11

During the counseling that preceded the prayers, she talked about a young man based abroad who was a family friend. This young man asked for her hand in marriage late in an earlier season but she just couldn't give an answer and after waiting for some time, he stopped calling and chatting her up. I couldn't actually extract the reason why she turned the proposal down as she had nothing really tangible to give as a reason.

The strangest part of it was that the young man is a very good and grounded child of God and as a lover of God, she didn't exactly have a good reason to turn down the proposal. During the prayers, God told me that she was going to get a call from the same man asking for her hand in marriage. I asked her why, and she said she wanted to feel something in her, and on further inquiry, I discovered she sort of had been crushing on two young men who after many years have been unable to profess love for her.

When she said this, God immediately made me understand that that was Satan's way and strategy towards keeping her single for a very long time. The game plan was for her not to feel anything for the real people with who she could have a guaranteed and secured future while concentrating on people that had no real plans for her. Thank God I was able to counsel her against that mentality.

The word "device" is defined as "a plan, method, or trick with a particular aim". I want you to note that this word is pluralized in our focal scripture thus showing that Satan does not have a particular method of operation against God's people. The sole aim of each device is for him(Satan) to gain an advantage over a child of God.

Also notice that the word, "advantage" is singularized whereas the word, "device" is pluralized. This shows that Satan wouldn't mind applying multiple methods and strategies on his way to getting an advantage over a child of God. The only safety against this type of operation is to not be ignorant.

Many times, we unwittingly lose God's provision because of certain mentalities and behavior within our lives. We lose sight of God's operational pattern towards us and allow the enemy to gain a foothold over our lives through several manifestations of recklessness. The most disheartening part of this comes when someone falls into deceit through what he/she believes to be the leading by the Holy Spirit.

There have been several situations where people of God refrained from taking God-provided steps originating from opportunities provided by God because they felt God never wanted them to do so. This type of device falls within the part of the definition that uses the word, "tricks". May you not be tricked into rejecting a heavenly blessing in Jesus' mighty name!